Muskegon Police Chief Jeffrey Lewis says the case about a 1-year-old infant found dead at a day care facility is "one of the saddest I've ever seen": police are investigating an 8-year-old child as a suspect.
Korey Brown was in the care of the center, called Keysha Keepers Daycare located in the area of Catherine Avenue and South Getty Street, when family said they found him unresponsive the morning of Friday, April 14.
A 911 call from the home was received around 6:15 a.m., Lewis said. CPR was performed by responding paramedics on the 1-year-old child but was not successful.
Brown was pronounced dead at 8 a.m.
There were adults in the home, says Lewis, but it's believed Brown was not supervised for some unknown period of time.
"I have all indications that they were in the house, they could have been on another floor, they could have been resting," Lewis said. "I do not know what they were doing, but I do know they were not in this area or this would not have occurred."
An unidentified 8-year-old child who also was at the home possibly tried to help the 1 year old when he became upset. Lewis said police have learned Brown was crying about something when the other child stepped in to provide aid.
It's likely that cost the child his life, Lewis said.
Police might have to rely on a 5-year-old witness to explain what happened to Brown. Detectives believe at some point, possible very early Friday morning, Brown began to cry or had some kind of issue.
"The 8 year old is the one who responded to those issues," Lewis said.
An autopsy is needed to determine what caused Brown's death.
Brown's mother, Bryanna Reasonover, previously told WZZM 13 she noticed bites and bruises on his face.
"My kids just started going there three weeks ago," Reasonover said.
An investigation is ongoing into where the adults were in the home and how long the child was unsupervised. There were several children at Keysha Keepers Daycare that night. The youngest is believed to be 1-year-old Brown.
The oldest the 8-year-old girl.
That child has been interviewed by police and a child psychology specialist.
The daycare operator Keysha Collins holds a license for the center, which was granted Nov. 18, 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. There have been no complaints against her license, nor has any action been taken because the investigation is ongoing, spokesman Michael Loepp said.
Four of Reasonover's children were at the daycare from late Thursday evening to early Friday morning.
Several adults were at Keysha Keepers on Monday. No one wanted to talk about what happened there early Friday morning.
It will likely take several days, possibly weeks before the investigation is ready for Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson to review and determine if any of the adults at the daycare will be criminally charged.
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